Refrigerator car hatch construction



Dec. 5, 1950 v. wEsT 2,532,472

REFRIGERATOR CAR HATCH CONSTRUCTION f um@ Dec. 5, 1950 vL E. wEsT REFRIGERATOR CAR HATCH CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 10, 1946 I N VEN TOR. BYZJ C14/UFE ide?? Patented Dec. 5, 1950 REFRIGERATOB CAR HATCH CONSTRUCTION Victor E. West, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application August 10, 1946, Serial No. 689,665 6 Claims. f (Cl. (S2-17,)

This invention relates to railway refrigerator cars of the top bunker type wherein the refrigerant is carried in containers located immediately below Ythe roof and adjacent the side walls thereof. Such cars are provided with hatches through the roof of the car, said hatches being located above the containers for access to and the servicing of said containers, and it is necessary, ordinarily, to equip said cars with inside carlines and purlins to support said containers and the load of refrigerant therein.

More specically the invention relates to the construction and arrangement of roof sheets having the aforesaid hatches therein.

The principal object of the invention is lto provide a wider roof sheet, either pressed so as to provide, or built up to welded together parts to provide, a hatch frame therein.

Another object of equal importance is to form the hatch frame so that by the simple addition of a refrigerant grate at the plane of the lower edge of the frame, said hatch frame also functions as a refrigerant bunker, thereby doing away with the necessity of separate refrigerant containers.

A further object is to provide inside carlines, the upper surfaces of which are located in the plane of the bottoms of said refrigerant grates, said carlines being suspended from the outer sides of said frames, and to which the ceiling of the car is attached, said carlines reinforcing the Whole roof section of the car.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a roof section for a top bunker refrigerator car which may b e assembled in its entirety upon the ground and applied as a unit to the car.

In the drawings forming part of this application:

Figure 1 is a part cross sectional and part elevational view through one of the refrigerant bunkers of a refrigerator car equipped with the invention, and showing in dotted lines one hatch cover raised for loading purposes. n

Figure 2 is a plan view of the roof sheet and hatch frame portion of the assembly. y

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged partial section through adjacent hatches longitudinally of the car.

Figure 5 isa plan view of part of the refrigerant bunker grate.

Figure 6 is an end elevation of Figure 5. Referring to the accompanying drawings, the invention is shown in connection with a refrigerator car equipped with a metal roof comprising self-supporting sheets I that span from side plate 2 to side plate 2 of the car, and have their ends secured to the'sloping top flanges 3 of said side plates. Said side plates are provided with vertical flanges t which overlap the car sheathing 5 and the upper ends of the spaced outer side posts 6 which extend to and `are secured to the side sill of the car.

Each roof sheet is either pressed to include the hatch frames, or built up of separate parts including the hatch frames, and welded together to form an integrated roof sheet. The latter form is illustrated as being perhaps the more practical and inexpensive and comprises a pair of spaced side parts IB, each provided with an upstanding side ange II, said flanges Il of adjacent sheets being straddled by seam caps I2 that are secured to said flanges and to the side plates 2. The other margin of each side part I0 is provided with a pair of spaced upwardly extending embcssments I3, the inner side anges I4 of which are rather deep, extending materially below the plane of the side part Ii). Each roof sheet also comprises a pair of spaced end parts I5, each of which is provided with a downturned eaves ange I 6 along its outer edge, and inwardly thereof is provided with an embossment Il, similar to the embossment I3, which embossments Il and I3 are mitered at their ends and welded together, as at I8. Extending between the side parts It is the central part 2li of the roof sheet, which central part 2S is provided along each side margin with an embossment 2l similar to em-v bossments I3 and ll, said embossments 2| and embossments i3 of each side part il] being mitered and welded together, as at 22. Thus each group of embossments I3, I3, Hand 2! when welded together as described form a hatch frame, and all parts form a roof sheet extending from side plate to side plate of the car. Embosslnents I1 and 2l are also provided with downturned flanges 23 and 24, respectively, similar to flanges le, which flanges form the inner walls of the hatch frame.

As before stated, it is an important object of the invention to form the hatch frame walls so that they may also function as the Walls of the refrigerant container, which is the reason said walls it, I4, 23 and 24 of each hatch frame eX- tend below the general plane of the roof perhaps more than would otherwise be required. Channel shaped carlines 3c having laterally extending flanges 3l projecting therefrom are shown as resting upon angle brackets 32, one arm of each of which brackets is welded to the walls of the hatch and the other arm of which extends inwardly and upon which the ends of said carlines 30 are secured. It will be noted that the carlines face downwardly and that the web 33 thereof is in a plane with the lower edge of the hatch frames, and there are foul` of such carlines per hatch frame. In Figure there is shown a plan view of a refrigerant grating 40, formed of expanded metal or other suitable material, having anges 4! along opposite sides and the body portion of which is pressed in a series of alternate ridges and grooves, as shown in Figure 6, Transversely across the grating and secured to the tops of the ridges, as by spot welding, are a plurality of spaced rods or bars l2 to strengthen the grating and to facilitate movement of refrigerant thereon to its proper location, when being loaded. This grating is installed in the hatch and rests on top of the webs 33 of carlines 36. Being of expanded metal, said grating allows moisture to be drained therethrough. Thus the sides of the hatch frame and the refrigerant grating form the lower portion of the refrigerant bunker.

The cover for said bunker is shown as comprising a fixed part 56 and a lid 5! both of which form an upwardly arched cover for the bunker. Part siii is welded along one edge to the embossment Il and extends the full length of the bunker, which is unusually long, as it is the intention to load the bunker with three hundred pound cakes of ice, which are 44" long. Lid portion 5i is hinged, as at 52, to the other edge of portion 4Ell and is shown, in dotted lines, open on the left side of Figure 1 and supported on the rest 53 secured to portion 52 provided for the purpose. Portions 53 and 5i are formed of inner and outer shells with adequate insulation therebetween, and the remainder of the car, is likewise suitably insulated.

As before stated, the carlines 36 face downwardly, and there is shown installed in the channels thereof a timber 55 to forni nailing strips for application thereto of the plywood ceiling material 56. Obviously, however, said nailing strips 65 may be eliminated and the ceiling material applied directly to the carline ilanges by selftapping screws.

As shown in Figure 1 the side wall also includes spaced inner wooden posts 651 to which are secured iiue sheets El having vertical panels pressed therein which extend between said posts so that when the side wall lining 62 is secured to said posts the panels form vertical flues 53. Ceiling 56 entends from the upper edge of lining 62 inwardly toward the longitudinal center of the car, but spaced from the ceiling sheet extending from the other side of the car, said space being shown at 613 and forming a warm air inlet to the refrigerant bunkers. The warm air rises through said inlet 64 and passes between carlines 3i! under the refrigerant grate lil where it becomes cooled by the refrigerant and descends into the lues 63 to the lower part of the car where said cooled air enters the lading compartment and rises therethrough to inlet 64 and the cycle is repeated.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modincations thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. A combined hatch frame and refrigerant bunker structure for a railway refrigerator car,

said structure comprising a metallic sheet having upstanding carline flanges at opposite sides thereof extendable transversely of said car, a hatch frame formed within said sheet providing a hatch opening therein, the walls of said hatch 'frame projecting downwardly considerably below the plane of said sheet so as to also form the walls of :a refrigerator bunker, and inner carlines secured at their ends to certain of said walls, and grating forming a bottom for said bunker supported by said carlines.

2. A combined hatch frame and refrigerant bunkel` structure for a railway refrigerator car, said structure comprising a metallic sheet having a hatch frame formed within said sheet providing a hatch opening therein, the walls of said hatch frame projecting downwardly considerably below the plane of said sheet so as to also form the walls of a refrigerator bunker, inner carlines secured at their ends to certain of said walls, and a car ceiling secured to the underside of said inner carlines.

3. A hatch frame and refrigerant bunker structure for a railway refrigerator car, said structure comprising a metallic sheet having a hatch frame formed within said sheet providing a hatch opening therein, the walls of said hatch frame projecting downwardly considerably below the plane of said sheet so as to also form the walls of a refrigerant bunker, a refrigerant rack secured to said walls in the plane of the lower edges thereof, and an inner carline secured at its ends to the lower edges of lcertain of said walls to support said rack.

4. A hatch frame and refrigerant bunker structure for a railway refrigerator car, said structure comprising a metallic sheet having a hatch frame formed within said sheet providing a hatch opening therein, the walls of said hatch frame projecting downwardly considerably below the plane of said sheet so as to also form the walls of a refrigerant bunker, a refrigerant rack secured to said outer wall in the plane of the lower edges thereof, inner carlines secured at their ends to certain of said walls for supporting said rack, and a hatch cover for said hatch frame to provide access to said refrigerant bunker.

5. A hatch frame and refrigerant bunker structure for a railway refrigerator car, said structure comprising a metallic sheet having a hatch frame formed within said sheet providing a hatch opening therein, and a refrigerant rack secured within the lower part of said hatch frame, whereby said hatch frame also forms the walls of a refrigerant bunker.

6. A structure as set forth in claim 5 and an upwardly arched cover resting upon and projecting entirely above said hatch frame.

VICTOR E. WEST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS West Feb. 3, 1942 

